Tag: defense

CyberEdge Group, a premier research and marketing firm serving the security industry’s top vendors, today announced immediate availability of its fifth annual Cyberthreat Defense Report.

New this year, the report found that 55 percent of responding organizations were compromised by ransomware in 2017, down from 61 percent in 2016.

However, respondents who were victimized by ransomware and who elected to pay the ransoms (customarily using Bitcoin) were asked if they successfully recovered their compromised data. Surprisingly, only half confirmed successful data recovery, while the other half acknowledged complete data loss.

With 1,200 IT security decision makers and practitioners participating from 17 countries, six continents, and 19 industries, CyberEdge’s Cyberthreat Defense Report is the most comprehensive study of security professionals’ perceptions in the industry. This study provides a 360-degree view of organizations’ security threats, current defenses, and planned investments.

“Got a coin? Flip it to see if you’ll get your data back after paying a ransom associated with ransomware. That’s just plain scary,” said Steve Piper, CEO of CyberEdge Group. “In 2017, 55 percent of our respondents’ organizations were victimized by ransomware. Of those victims that refused to pay the ransom (61 percent), the vast majority (87 percent) recovered their data from backups. This just underscores how important it is to incorporate a sensible data backup strategy as part of an organization’s cyberthreat defense strategy.”

“The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report is the result of one of the few independent surveys of security practitioners. While many leading vendors provide their own research of the cybersecurity space, it is important to supplement their findings and conclusions with unbiased research and analysis such as the Cyberthreat Defense Report,” said Richard Stiennon, chief research analyst at IT-Harvest. “The leveling off of the percent of respondents reporting breaches is a good sign, but at 77.2 percent, it is still very high and paints a picture of no end in sight for serious breaches in the coming years. I hope all security teams show this to their senior leadership.”

While it may seem like Combat Power (CP) or stats (IV) are the most important factors in Pokémon Go, movesets play a critically important role as well. Movesets are the combination of the quick move and charge move your Pokémon uses in Gym and Raid Battles.

The wonderful, terrible thing about movesets is that they’re determined at random. If you catch or hatch a Snorlax, you get whatever you get. But if you evolve a Slaking, Tryanitar, Dragonite, Gyarados, Blissey, etc. or catch a Boss after a Gym Raid, they’re determined by a roll of the dice the moment you hit the evolve button or as soon as the Premiere Ball stops bouncing. That means your perfect IV Shelgon can become a less-than-ideal Salamence with just one tick or tock of the server.

The good news is that, with the introduction of Technical Machines (TMs), you can now re-roll your old, terrible movesets and try for new, great ones.

But how do you know which movesets will help your Pokémon decimate Gyms and Raids and which will make a fight simply unwinnable? Here’s the newly updated list!

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets cheat sheet

If all you want is a quick reference for the absolute best moveset for the most powerful Pokémon (CP) in their most efficient roles (Attack/Defense) in Pokémon Go as the game stands today, here it is. (For more details and alternate movesets, keep reading below).

Note: I’m including defensive movesets even for Legendary Pokémon. While Legendaries can’t currently be put in Gyms, that might change, or Player vs. Player or other mechanics might be introduced in the future that make it relevant.

For the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon:

Legendary

Attack

Defense

Articuno

Frost Breath + Blizzard or Ice Beam

Frost Breath + Blizzard or Ice Beam

Zapdos

Charge Beam + Thunder Bolt

Charge Beam + Thunder Bolt

Moltres

Fire Spin + Overheat

Fire Spin + Overheat

Mewtwo

Confusion + Psychic

Confusion + Shadow Ball

Mew

Pound + Solar Beam or Focus Blast

Pound + Solar Beam

Raikou

Thunder Shock + Wild Charge

Volt Switch + Wild Charge

Entei

Fire Spin + Overheat

Fire Spin + Overheat

Sicune

Extrasensory + Hydro Pump

Extrasensory + Hydro Pump

Lugia

Extrasensory + Future Sight

Extrasensory + Future Sight

Ho-Oh

Extrasensory + Solar Beam

Extrasensory + Fire Blast or Solar Beam

Celebi

Confusion + Hyper Beam

Confusion + Dazzling Gleam

Regirock

Rock Throw + Stone Edge

Rock Smash + Focus Blast

Regice

Frost Breath + Blizzard

Rock Smash + Blizzard

Registeel

Metal Claw + Hyper Beam

Rock Smash + Hyper Beam

Latias

Dragon Breath + Dragon Claw

Dragon Breath + Dragon Claw

Latio

Dragon Breath + Solar Beam

Zen Headbutt + Solar Beam

Kyogre

Waterfall + Hydro Pump

Waterfall + Hydro Pump

Groudon

Mud Shot + Earthquake

Mud Shot + Solar Beam

Rayquaza

Dragon Tail + Outrage

Dragon Tail + Outrage

Jirachi

Confusion + Doom Desire

Confusion + Dazzling Gleam

Deoxys

Zen Headbutt + Zap Cannon

Zen Heabutt + Zap Cannon

And for the non-Legendary Pokémon:

Pokémon

Attack

Defense

Slaking

Yawn + Hyper Beam

Yawn + Play Rough

Tyranitar

Bite + Crunch

Iron Tail + Crunch

Metagross

Bullet Punch + Flash Cannon

Zen Headbutt + Flash Canon

Dragonite

Dragon Tail + Outrage

Dragon Tail + Outrage

Salamence

Dragon Tail + Draco Meteor

Dragon Tail + Draco Meteor

Snorlax

Zen Headbutt + Hyper Beam

Zen Headbutt + Hyper Beam (Zen Headbutt + Body Slam)

Rhydon

Mud Slap + Stone Edge

Mud Slap + Stone Edge

Gyarados

Waterfall + Hydro Pump or Outrage

Waterfall + Hydro Pump

Blissey

Zen Headbutt + Hyper Beam

Pound + Dazzling Gleam

Vaporeon

Water Gun + Hydro Pump

Water Gun + Aqua Tail

Donphan

Counter + Earthquake

Counter + Rough Play

Aggron

Iron Tail + Heavy Slam

Iron Tail + Heavy Slam

Espeon

Confusion + Future Sight

Confusion or Zen Headbutt + Psybeam

Milotic

Waterfall + Surf

Waterfall + Surf

Gardevoir

Confusion + Dazzling Gleam

Heracross

Counter + Close Combat

Struggle Bug + Close Combat

Golem

Rock Throw + Stone Edge

Rock Throw + Stone Edge

Exeggutor

Extrasensory + Solar Beam

Extrasensory + Solar Beam

Flareon

Fire Spin + Overheat

Fire Spin + Flame Thrower

Machamp

Counter + Dynamic Punch

Counter + Dynamic Punch

Alakazam

Confusion + Future Sight

Confusion + Shadow Ball (Dazzling Gleam)

Arcanine

Fire Fang + Fire Blast

Snarl + Fire Blast

Swampert

Water Gun + Surf

Water Gun + Surf

Scizor

Bullet Punch + Iron Head

Bullet Punch + Iron Head

Pinser

Bug Bite + X-Scissor

Rock Smash + Scissor

Hariyama

Counter + Dynamic Punch

Counter + Dynamic Punch

Usaring

Counter + Hyper Beam

Counter + Hyper Beam

Jolteon

Thunder Shock + Thunderbolt

Volt Switch + Discharge or Thunderbolt

Feraligatr

Water Gun + Hydro Pump

Water Gun + Ice Beam

Muk

Poison Jab + Gunk Shot

Poison Jab + Gunk Shot

Amphoros

Charge Beam + Zap Cannon

Volt Switch + Zap Cannon

Kingler

Bubble + Water Pulse

Bubble + Water Pulse

Charizard

Fire Sping + Overheat

Fire Sping + Overheat

Typhlosion

Ember + Overheat

Ember + Overheat

Omastar

Water Gun + Rock Blast (Rock Throw + Rock Slide)

Water Gun + Rock Blast (Rock Throw + Rock Slide)

Armaldo

Fury Cutter + Rock Blast

Struggle Bug + Rock Blast

Blaziken

Counter + Overheat

Firespin + Overheat

Gengar

Hex + Shadowball (Shadow Claw + Shadow Ball)

Hex + Sludge Bomb (Shadow Claw + Sludge Bomb)

Aerodactyl

Steel Wing + Hyper Beam

Steel Wing + Ancient Power

Walrein

Frost Breath + Blizzard

Frost Breath + Blizzard

Lapras

Frost Breath + Blizzard

Frost Breath + Blizzard

Sceptile

Bullet Seed + Leaf Blade

Bullet Seed + Leaf Blade

Venusaur

Vine Whip + Solar Beam

Razor Leaf + Solar Beam

Again, many Pokémon have several ideal movesets, so keep reading for more!

What if you don’t have the best movesets?

Movesets are like the lottery. Whether you catch, hatch, or evolve, you never know what you’re going to get. Some Pokémon have upwards of six or more moveset combinations, some amazingly good, others terrible.

If you have an ideal moveset, it’s great. You’ll do the most damage in the least amount of time while maintaining the best ability to dodge. If you don’t, not all is lost. You could still have the same type of moves, only less damaging or slower.

For example, Machamp with Counter and Dynamic Punch is one of the best attackers in the game. Machamp with Counter and Close Combat, though, is a fairly close second. Dragon Tail Outrage is the best for Dragonite, but Dragon Tail Hurricane isn’t far behind.

New with the June 2017 Raid Battle system, you can even get Technical Machines to change your movesets. Two of the possible rewards for beating Raid Bosses are Quick TM and Fast TM, which can be used to change Quick Moves and Charge Moves respectively.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Rayquaza?

Rayquaza is the last of the Weather Trio to enter the Pokémon Go arena. It can’t reach as high a CP as either Groudon or Kyogre, but it’s still more than high enough to make Rayquaza the best Dragon-types in the game. And the best Flying-type. It’s the Dragon part you want to focus on though — Dragon Tail and Outrage, specifically.

Best Movesets: Dragon Tail + Outrage. The new best Dragon-type in the game

Counter: Articuno with Frost Breath + Blizzard or Ice Beam.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Kyogre?

Kyogre is one of the Weather Trio and, along with Groudon, can reach one of the highest CP in the current Pokémon Go lineup — 4074. Combined with its elite stats, it replaces Vaporeon and the newly Waterfall’d Gyarados as the most powerful Water-type in the game. Sadly, it lost it’s Dragon Tail Quick Move before it even came out, but when you have Waterfall and Hydro Pump, it’s hard to argue.

While Kyogre can also learned Blizzard as a Charge Move, it doesn’t have a Quick Move — or typing — to match. So leave the cold to Articuno and Lapras. Likewise, Thunder is a Charge Move option, but not a good one. Let water be water.

Best Movesets: Waterfall + Hydro Pump. The new best Water-type in the game

Counter: Raikou with Thunder Shock + Wild Charge.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Groudon?

Groudon is one of the Weather Trio and can reach one of the highest CP in the current Pokémon Go lineup — 4074. Combined with its elite stats, it replaces Rhydon as the most powerful Ground-type in the game. Sadly, it can’t learn the more damaging Mud Slap, but it can get Mud Shot + Earthquake, which is going to be what every purist wants — and every Electric-type fears. Groudon can also learn the incredibly punishing Dragon Tail and Solar Beam, and some might want to go with those moves as well. There are other Pokémon that can learn Solar Beam, though, so do it if you don’t have those options. Otherwise, let Groudon be Groudon.

Best Movesets: Mud Shot + Earthquake. Like Ryhdon, only Legendary.

Secondary Movesets: Mud Shot + Solar Beam. Because Solar Beam.

Counter: Gyarados or Vaporeon with Hydro Pump.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Ho-Oh?

Ho-Oh is to the Legendary Beasts what Lugia is to the Legendary Birds — their leader. Where Lugia is cool and calm, Ho-Oh is fiery hot. Sadly, where Lugia also had movesets that made sense, Ho-Oh’s are all over the map, and what really holds it back is the complete lack of Overheat. Sadness. It really makes everything else a toss up and dependant on what, if anything, you want to do with Ho-Oh. Extrasensory + Solar Beam is probably your best bet, unless you want to go Machamp Raiding with Brave Bird, or go after the big bugs with Fire Blast. Ugh, Pokémon Go. Just. Ugh.

Counter: Tyranitar or Golem with Stone Edge, Raikou with Wild Charge or Zapdos with Thunderbolt.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Suicune?

Due to the way Pokémon Go translates stats over from the Nintendo Pokémon games, the Legendary Water Beast, Suicune, ends up with the short end of the stick. So short, you can barely see it. The result is a Legendary Pokémon that’s not nearly as good at its Water-type specialty than the incredibly common Vaporeon and the newly rejuvenated Gyarados. It can’t even get to 3000 CP. Previously, Suicune could at least get Hidden Power Water or Hidden Power Rock, if you were really, really lucky. Now, if Suicune makes a comeback or you somehow TM yourself into a corner, all you can get is Snarl or Extrasensory.

Best Movesets: Anything and Hydro Pump. Sigh.

Secondary Movesets: Sigh.

Counter: Raikou with Wild Charge or Zapdos with Thunderbolt. Anything with Solar Beam.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Entei?

Entei is the Legendary Fire Beast and a powerhouse of a Pokémon. Because Moltres, Flareon, and Charizard can also learn Entei’s best moveset — Fire Spin + Overheat — it’s not quite as glorious as it could be. But, for pure Fire-type Pokémon, Entei is still FIRE. Especially when you count in its CP: Entei can reach 3377, much higher even than Moltres. You can play around Flamethrower if you’re a fan of 2-bar charge moves. Otherwise, just take Overheat and wreck with it.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Raikou?

Raikou is a Legendary that really lives up to the name. The Legendary Electric Beast, Raikou not only has a CP that can reach 3349, it can do one thing no other Electric-type currently in the game can match: learn Wild Charge. When you combine Raikou’s stats with its moveset, it catapults past Zapdos to become the best — and certainly the best pure — Electric-type attacker in Pokémon Go. We’ll see how that holds up as future Electrics get introduced. For now, though, Raikou is the real zapper.

Best Movesets: Thundershock + Wild Charge. Literally lightning in a bottle. That it throws as a weapon.

Secondary Movesets: Why? Just use Thundershock + Wild Charge

Counter: Groudon or Rhydon with Earthquake.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Lugia?

Lugia is one of the most powerful Legendary Pokémon in the game. It can easily reach a CP over 3000, it’s got stats that put it up there with the best, and movesets that pack a punch. Specifically, Lugia is Psychic/Flying type and has Psychic movesets available to it that can destroy Fighting-types like Machamp. Dragon Tail with Sky Attack and Hydro Pump are powerful as well, can make Lugia a good general attacker, like Dragonite. and can put a hurt on a range of other Pokémon, but when you have a Psychic destroyer of this stature, let it be a Psychic destroyer.

Best Movesets: Extrasensory + Future Sight. Picture an Alakazam with the bulk of a Snorlax. Now, Machamp knows fear.

Secondary Movesets: Dragon Tail with Sky Attack. Still packs a wallop, even without same type attack bonus (STAB) on the fast move.

Counter: Tyrantiar with Bite + Crunch or Stone Edge.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Articuno?

With a potential CP almost but not quite reaching the 3000s, Articuno is like Lapras on Hulk serum. OK, more Hulk serum. Unlike Lapras, though, Articuno only has access to Ice type movesets. No Water types. That makes Frost Breath its only Quick Move and, so, winner by default. For Charge Moves, Blizzard packs more power but takes longer to deliver it. Ice Beam can be spammed over and over again.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Moltres?

Moltres is a Flying/Fire type, just like Charizard, but with a CP that can reach over 3000. It currently doesn’t have any Flying-type movesets assigned to it, but it has Fire Spin + Overheat, which is the best Fire-type moveset in the game. That makes Moltres, essentially, a super-Charizard. Use it to burn Bugs Grass-types down to ash.

Best Movesets: Fire Spin + Overheat. It’s not fast but it hits like the inferno.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Zapdos?

Zapdos is a mixed blessing. It has better stats than any previous Electric-type in the game… but it doesn’t have access to movesets that would really push it over the top. As it is, Zapdos is Flying/Electric and has a CP that can soar about 3300. For Fast move, all Zapdos has access to is Charge Beam. For Charge Move, Zap Cannon and Thunder, but also Thunderbolt. It’s not Wild Charge, but it’ll do.

Best Movesets: Charge Beam + Zap Cannon. It’l still light up water types.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Slacking?

Slaking would have had a CP that soared over 5000 — Five. Thousand. — but Pokémon Go nerfed it hard before releasing it as part of Gen 3. Still, with a new maximum of 4548 CP, Slaking climbs to the top of the Empire State Building and swats at the puny biplanes of every other Pokémon in the game. To balance things out, though, Pokémon Go have given Slaking the zero-damage Yawn as its one and only quick move. And that means that while Slaking looks impressive, it can’t really attack and can’t really defend. Thus, the biggest mon of them all is relegated to showpiece status in the current game.

Attack: Yawn with Hyper Beam. If you can dodge long enough to actually charge it up and get it off. And it’s a big “if”.

Defense: Yawn with Play Rough. Because it has a slightly higher chance of being charged up and set off before Slaking goes down hard.

Counter: Machamp or Hariyama with Counter + Dynamic Punch.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Tyranitar?

Tyranitar once soared to the top of Gyms, even higher than Dragonite, based on its matchless CP. Now that any CP over 3000 is actively punished in Gyms, Tyranitar and it’s severe weakness to Fighting moves has made it less of a defender and more of an attacker. You can still put a 2999 or lower CP Tyranitar in a Gym, but you really want to max out double Dark Tyranitar to take out Psychics in Raid Battles. Including, one day, Mew and Mewtwo.

Defense: Iron Tail with Crunch. Outputs more damage, more quickly, even in bad matchups.

Counter: Machamp or Hariyama with Counter + Dynamic Punch. Goes through Tyranitar like Bruce Lee through a wooden board.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Dragonite?

High CP now hurts Dragonite on Gym defense, thanks to the new system that punishes anything over 3000. A 2999 Dragonite or lower Dragonite can still fill a Gym slot but its loss of position and its double weakness to Ice moves has pushed it into an attacking role where it remains the best generalist in the game.

Attack: Dragon Tail with Outrage. Tail does a lot of damage fast, Outrage just does a lot of damage. Also, Dragon Tail with Hurricane against Machamp.

Counter: Lapras or Articuno with Frost Breath and Blizzard. Ice is a Dragonite’s worst enemy.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Snorlax?

Snorlax isn’t just a tank. It’s mega-tank and that hasn’t changed with the update. For defense, though, you now need Snorlax under 3000 CP or you can literally see them draining away. Even CP-hobbled, Snorlax can take a beating while dishing out damage and that means anyone who goes up against one is in for a tough battle.

Counter: Machamp or Hariyama with Counter and Dynamic Punch. Or anything that can do a ton of damage, including Solar Beam, Overheat, or Stone Edge.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Rhydon?

Rhydon received a significant boost in late 2016, with Pokémon Go’s updated formula boosting its potential up above 3000 CP. And now that’s come back to bite it in the horn with the mid-2016 update that punishes high CP in Gyms. Especially given Rhydon’s glass snout against Water and Grass moves. It can still sit in Gyms, sure, but now the primary use for a maxed out Rhydon is as an attacker against Fire and even Lightning Raid Bosses. With Gen 3, it can learn Surf… but why?

Attack: Mud Slap with Earthquake. Not the fastest but useful against Fire, Electric, and Poison. Also Mud Slap with Stone Edge against the Flying Fire types.

Defense: Mud Slap with Stone Edge. Still not the fastest but lots of damage, especially against those who don’t dodge.

Counter: Gyarados or Vaporeon with Hydro Pump or Exeggutor with anything and Solar Beam. They’re plentiful and powerful.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Gyarados?

Gyarados has been reborn! Sure, its first-year launched its CP up above 3000 and gave it a place in the old Gym system. Then it became the first evolved Shiny. But under the new Gym system, it was little more that a bright red bragging right and occasional Bite + Crunch fallback for Tyranitar when facing Focus Blast equipped Raid Bosses.

Pokémon Go is nothing if not constant change, though, and now Gyarados finally has what it’s always needed the most: A water-based quick move with Waterfall. Lightning is still its double kryptonite, but now it’s made up for with the best water attack in the game.

Attack: Waterfall with Hydro Pump. King of the water-types, finally! (Also Bite + Crunch as a backup against Lugia, Mewtwo, or other psychic Raid Bosses with Focus Blast.)

Defense: Water Fall with Hydro Pump.

Counter: Zapdos, Raikou, or Jolteon. Take water, add a spark, watch it sizzle.

What are the best Pokémon Go moveset for Blissey?

Blissey is a tank’s tank. A mega-tank. With MASSIVE amounts of HP. Thanks to the new Gym system, you no longer have Blissey running out the timer to look forward to/worry about, but its sheer defensive capability means if you have one under 3000 CP, it’s still the best Pokémon to fill a Gym slot. (Just get in first because you can only have one per Gym now.) On offense, Blissey can likewise last, but that can mean running out of time against a Raid Boss.

Attack: Pound with Hyper Beam. It can take a while but you’ll get through anything.

Defense: Zen Headbutt or Pound with Dazzling Gleam. Dazzling Gleam is harder to dodge than Hyper Beam, making Blissey even more frustrating. But really, any Blissey moveset works on defense.

Counter: Machamp or Hariyama with Counter and Dynamic Punch. Or anything that can do a ton of damage, including Solar Beam, Overheat, or Stone Edge.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Vaporeon?

Eevee are so common in some areas that almost everyone has access to a high-level Vaporeon or several. Since it can only barely get to 3000 CP, there’s even a chance your maxed out Vape is still viable in the new system. While it’s still double weak against Grass, it also still got a lot of power behind it. That’s even more true on attack, where it can hurt the Fire type Raid Bosses and blast into Tyranitar.

Attack: Water Gun with Hydro Pump. Fast jab, devastating uppercut. Especially good against Rhydon and Tyranitar.

Defense: Water Gun with Aqua Tail. Also fast and frequent enough it can force more dodging — or damage.

Counter: Exeggutor with Extrasensory (Legacy: Zen Headbutt) and Solar Beam. (I also like Zapdos, Raikou, and Jolteon because they multitask against Gyarados.)

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Machamp?

Machamp is the Blissey-breaker. The Snorlax-crusher. Tyranitar’s Bane. With one early 2017 update, Pokémon Go plucked Machamp out of the also-rans and gave it a moveset that redefined the meta. With the new, sub-3000 Gym reality, you can use Machamp on defense. But it’d be a waste. Not only does an attack Machamp do serious damage to Snorlax, Blissey, and even Lapras, it does devastating damage to Tyranitar… if it has the right moveset:

Attack: Counter with Dynamic Punch. It hurts many of the big defenders, including Snorlax and Lapras, and devastates Tyranitar.

Defense: Counter with Dynamic Punch. But you shouldn’t be defending with Machamp anyway.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Lapras?

Lapras… what a life! The late 2016 update skyrocketed other Pokémon ahead of it on the CP charts, and the early 2017 update sent Lapras tumbling down. Now, the mid-2017 update has made under 3000 CP the new sweet-spot for Lapras, and it’s back in the game. Of course, Lapras still one thing best — knocks out Dragonites… if it has the right moves.

Attack: Frost Breath with Blizzard. You get STAB and you get to shred Dragonite.

Defense: Frost Breath with Blizzard or Hydro Pump. The former annoys Dragonite, the latter surprises people not expecting a Vaporeon-style defender. Once. (Legacy: Ice Shard with Blizzard or Ice Beam.)

Counter: Machamp. Very few things can take Dynamic Punch hurt. Also, Jolteon or Magneton with Electric movesets.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Golem?

Golem has become relevant again, thanks not only to the new Gym system but the new Raid Battles as well. Given that Gyms can only have one of each Pokémon in it, and Pokémon are punished for being over 3000 CP, Golem at just below 3000 is a fine choice as a defender. It’s like a mini-Rhydon without as many weaknesses. Better, though, thanks to its resistance, Golem is now really good for Raids against Fire and Electric types. And yes, that includes the Legendary Birds and Beasts. You just need the right movesets.

Counter: Gyarados or Vaporeon with Hydro Pump or Exeggutor with anything and Solar Beam. They’re plentiful and powerful.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Alakazam?

Alakazam was once the more most brutal, if glass-jawed, Pokémon in the game. Then the great moveset rebalance with the launch of Gen 2 depowered (nerfed) him hard. Alakazam may not be what it once was, but thanks to the new Gym system, at least its CP no longer holds it back as a defender. And given some Raid Bosses weakness to psychic moves, and Alakazam’s still respectable ability to deal damage, it’s regained its place as an attacker — and it’s one of the few things that can’t really hurt the big fighters, like Machamp.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Flareon?

Flareon was all but forgotten thanks to the big Fire-type depowering (nerfing) of late 2016. With the advent of Blissey, though, Flareon’s powerful Overheat move began to make a comeback. Now, with the new Gym system, Flareon’s CP is no longer a deal breaker and Overheat has become a Grass-type burner against several of the Raid Bosses, including Venosaur and Exeggutor. It’s overshadowed by Moltres and Entei, but also plentiful enough that it can still fill Gyms or round-out teams.

Attack: Fire Spin + Overheat. It takes a while to charge but it’s a blast furnace when unleashed against Venusaur and it’s Grassy kind.

Defense: Fire Spin + Flamethrower. Double charge move can be used more often than single.

Counter: Golem with Rock Throw + Stone Edge. Rock beats fire.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Jolteon?

Thanks to the new, sub-3000 Gym system, Jolteon can be used in defense if you really want to. Where Jolteon still excels, though, is on attack. Against Water types, including Raid Bosses. It may note be as critically important in an era where Gyarados, which it best counters, don’t sit aplenty in every Gyms, but it’ll still help take out water-types in a Raid. Sure, Zapdos and Raikou are the new top shockers in town, but Jolteon can fill a Gym slot or round out a team if and when needed.

Counter: Groudon or Rhydon with Earthquake. They’re not just monsters, but monsters that take advantage of Jolteon’s weakness to Ground-types.

What are the best Pokémon Go movesets for Exeggutor?

Exeggutor is back, baby! Knocked out of Gyms by the CP rebalance at the end of 2016, the new CP cap in mid-2017 has given its defense game new life. On top of that, its combination of Solar Beam and toughness make for a lethal attacker against many of the toughest defenders in Gyms, even Blissey. But wait, there’s more: It’ll hurt any Raid Boss that’s weak against Grass, including Rhydon and Blastoise, and those weak against Psychic, including Machamp.

Attack: Extra Sensory (legacy: Confusion or Zen Headbutt) and Solar Beam. Solar Beam. It brings down the power of the sun.

Defense: Extra Sensory with Solar Beam (legacy: Confusion with Seed Bomb). But the CP just isn’t there for it to be a real defender.

Your best Pokémon Go movesets?

These are the best Pokémon Go movesets I’ve seen for the toughest Pokémon and best counters currently in the game. If you have a favorite, then let me know what it is and what moveset you is best for it!

Updated June 2017 Pokémon Go has changed the way Gyms work, added Raid Battels and Raid Bosses, and introduced Technical Machines (TM) that let you re-roll movesets. Yeah, it’s a whole new game and the list has been updated to reflect it!

While Ironhide Games made a big splash last year with their tower defense/real-time strategy hybrid Iron Marines [$ 4.99], but we can’t go forgetting that they’re also responsible for three of the very best action tower defense games around: The Kingdom Rush trilogy. All three of these games have been well-maintained by Ironhide over the years, and just in this past week they’ve set out to support the iPhone versions of each with full screen support for the iPhone X. Of course, it took Ironhide like 6 years to finally release a Universal build of a game with Iron Marines, so chances are if you’re an iPad Kingdom Rush player you don’t know and don’t care than an iPhone X update is available for these games. And that’s fine! Avert your eyes iPad people!

For us iPhone gamers though, these updated Kingdom Rush games look really great on the full screen of the iPhone X. I actually haven’t played any of these games in a couple of years, so it’s a good excuse to get back into them. If you’re not really familiar with the Kingdom Rush series and are looking for some guidance, you can check out our review of the original Kingdom Rush for iPad from way back in 2011. That was about six months before there was an iPhone version at all. That first game is also free, so you could always just download it to get an idea of what it’s like (and because it’s still fantastic even all these years later) and if you do enjoy it and want more then check out our review of Kingdom Rush Frontiers as well as our review of Kingdom Rush Origins for even more tower defense goodness.

Not Your Usual Drone Airstrike

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on January 8 that a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have attacked their airbase in Syria on the night of January 5th. The drone strike is the latest of a recent flurry of mysterious attacks against Russian forces in Syria, and military officials are still clueless as to who’s behind them.

The Defense Ministry said that 13 small drones, what they described as a “massive application of unmanned aerial vehicles,” targeted two separate locations. Seven of these were neutralized by Russian anti-aircraft defenses, while the rest caused no significant damage after exploding upon touching the ground.

Image credit: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/FacebookExamining the captured UAVs, the Russian military discovered that they were crudely assembled. They carried locally made bombs fitted in small plastic fins under their wings. “It was the first time when terrorists applied a massed drone aircraft attack launched at a range of more than 50 km using modern GPS guidance system,” the Russian Defense Ministry’s official post said.

But swarms of small drones like the ones seen in Syria have only recently been employed in modern defense programs. Defense contractor Duke Robotics has one such program in the works, with an ordinary-looking multi-rotor drone called the TIKAD — except it really isn’t your regular hobbyist drone. The TIKAD is armed with a high-powered rifle.

Advocates of drone warfare see it as the future of military operations, and one where the lives of human soldiers need not be put in harm’s way. Deploying smaller drones could also end up becoming cheaper than using regular UAVs like the Predator.

So, as crude and rudimentary as those drones that bombed Russian forces were, the mysterious attackers are definitely up to something. The incident was, indeed, the first time a swarm of drones had been weaponized for a military strike — but it most definitely won’t be the last.

A Good Predator

Nature is full of keenly adapted predators, and one of the best animal hunters out there is the falcon. These skilled predators have been able to adapt to nearly every habitat on Earth, and have long been used by humans to hunt game from the sky. Now, the United States military thinks there’s even more to learn from these raptors. The US Air Force recently funded a study by Oxford University zoologists that aimed to understand how peregrine falcons hunt for prey, and to model their predatory behavior into bio-mimicking drone defense technology.

“Renowned as nature’s fastest predators, peregrines are famous for their high-speed stooping and swooping attack behaviors,” the Oxford team wrote in the abstract of their study, which provides an insight into how a peregrine falcon tracks its quarry, published in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Contrary to previously held understanding, these peregrine falcons don’t follow simple geometric rules during an aerial hunt for food. Instead, the raptors maneuver using control strategies of proportional navigation, which is similar to the guidance system of a visually-directed missile.

To monitor how this works, the researchers fitted the falcons with miniature GPS receivers and video cameras. The GPS tracked how the falcons followed another bird or a bait towed in the air by a drone (as seen in the above video), checking the predator’s angle and method of attack. You can watch more of the falcons at work in the videos included here.

“Falcons are classic aerial predators, synonymous with agility and speed. Our GPS tracks and on-board videos show how peregrine falcons intercept moving targets that don’t want to be caught,” lead researcher Graham Taylor of the Oxford Flight Group at the university’s zoology department, said in a press release. “Remarkably, it turns out that they do this in a similar way to most guided missiles.”

Modeling Nature

Taylor and his colleagues also noted a difference between how a guided missile works and how the falcons track prey. Unlike the missiles, the raptors are able to adjust the angle of their attack to compensate for their not-so agile movement. It’s possible, therefore, to copy these mechanisms into drones designed to hunt for other drones.

“Our next step is to apply this research to designing a new kind of visually guided drone, able to remove rogue drones safely from the vicinity of airports, prisons and other no-fly zones,” Taylor explained.

“It was very exciting to study these sleek, formidable aerial predators, and to watch them as they chased down our maneuvering lure towed behind a small remote-controlled airplane – then, through our computer modeling, to reveal the secret of their attack strategy,” co-author Caroline Brighton explained in the press release.

A peregrine falcon on the attack. (Image credit: Pixabay/Jocdoc)

As the world moves towards employing more drone technology and autonomous weapon systems in our cities and on the battlefield, presumably to lessen human casualties, taking a cue from how nature’s predators work could greatly improve next-generation designs. The US Air Force-funded Oxford study can make it easier to design drones that see their target and adjust accordingly.

“We think that the finer details of how peregrines operate could certainly find application in small drones designed to remove other drones from protected airspace,” Taylor told Bloomberg.

We’ve all imagined how we’d handle the difficult scenarios that come with a zombie apocalypse. Go for the gun, barricade yourself in, and just generally keep as high as possible. Dead 2048 is the new tower-defence/puzzle combo that gives players the means to do all these things, available now for both iOS and Android players.

Tower building is the name of the game in Dead 2048, being your best chance at surviving the forthcoming undead hordes that remain intent on chewing flesh and taking over the town. You’ll need to start off small, connecting blocks together with traditional 2048 mechanics and getting yourself as high as possible. The higher your towers, the better your chances at popping off successful shots.

Aiding your survival is the ability to construct specific towers, each being ideal for specific purposes. Would you rather land a critical, have better range, or do more damage? The zombie waves will never stop coming, so it’s up to you to survive them using the correct tactics.

As enterprises push ahead with mobile-first strategies – and employee smartphones and tablets increasingly become business tools – the importance of mobile threat defense (MTD) is growing.

Using mobile threat detection and defense, however, is no small task; the technology must cover applications, networks and device-level threats to iOS and Android phones and tablets to be effective.

“We talk about mobile threat defense, rather than detection – the reason being these solutions not only detect, but also can prevent and remediate threats,” said Dionisio Zumerle, research director for mobile security at Gartner.

The MTD market is growing in terms of adoption, and has started to attract attention from endpoint protection platform (EPP) vendors and in other related markets, according to a recent report from Gartner.

I have to admit that whenever I see a [Something] vs. [Something] naming convention for a game, it’s hard for me to get excited. That whole thing has been done to death, you know? But I also believe in having an open mind towards all games and not strictly juding something based on its title, and so that should indicate to you that the forthcoming Drones vs. Zombies must be pretty cool looking if I’m here talking about it. And it does look cool! It’s a simple defense game where you’re trying to prevent zombies from invading your city by using various types of drones to fly around and zap, burn, bomb, and otherwise eradicate the approaching zombie menace. Check it out.

As you can see in the trailer, you aren’t just limited to the 3 types of drones in the game to ward off the zombies, but you have some other interesting options at your disposal as well. My personal favorite is the decoy bomb which once deployed attracts a ton of zombies over and then after they’ve all gathered around explodes right in their rotting faces. There’s also an electric fence surrounding your base that you can throw the switch on to barbecue the undead attackers. Overall Drones vs. Zombies seems much cooler than I was expecting based on its name, and it should be arriving this week so it won’t be long before we can all take it for a spin.

No Space

Congressional negotiators cut short on Wednesday the supposed plans for the creation of a sixth branch in the United States Armed Forces dedicated for space defense. The United States Space Corps (USSC) was part of a bill, H.R.2810, that the U.S. House of Representatives passed in July, to amend the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Now, the agreed compromise defense authorization plan proposes a $ 700 billion budget for the 2018 fiscal year, but without the creation of a space branch of the military.

Originally, proponents of the USSC saw it as a necessary improvement to modernize or future-proof the military, with space increasingly becoming an important aspect of defense. For one, a space corps could secure U.S. satellites from possible interference, or eventually keep us safe from incoming asteroids. As a more forward-looking measure, a “space corps” could make sure the U.S. stays ready for whatever challenges a broadening space exploration might bring.

Early on, however, the creation of the USSC has met with some reluctance and even outright opposition, particularly from the White House itself and from Pentagon chief Jim Mattis. The creation of a space corps, they argued, would just add an unnecessary level of bureaucracy. Instead of a space corps, the revise bill would simply introduce technical changes in the U.S. Air Force’s existing space programs, according to a report by DefenseNews.

Budget Items

Without a space corps in the pipeline, what does $ 700 billion afford the armed services?

The total budget is split accordingly: some $ 626 billion would go to base defense funding, with a $ 66 billion contingency for overseas operations. The plan also proposes a boost in active-duty and reserve military personnel strength, adding 8,500 new soldiers, 5,000 new sailors, 5,800 new airmen, and 1,000 new active-duty Marines — for a total of some 20,000 new service members. Troops would also get a 2.4 percent pay raise for 2018, which is 0.3 percent higher than what U.S. president Donald Trump proposed. If this is carried over, it would be the largest pay increase for military personnel since 2010, DefenseNews notes.

Apart from these, the bill includes the so-called “Amazon amendment,” which would allow for certain military procurements to be conducted online, potentially making the process simpler and more cost-effective. Speaking of purchases, the plan also suggests buying five more ships than what president Trump’s budget asked for, plus provisions for the Air Force fleet build-up he suggested, and for some new Army helicopters.

The defense plan compromise, which is expected to receive a final full congressional approval from both the House and the Senate in the next couple of weeks, proposes a sizable enough increase in defense spending, which lawmakers have argued to be necessary. However, the $ 700 billion proposed cost has to be reconciled with existing spending caps.

Facebook is testing a new preemptive revenge porn defense in Australia that may, at first blush, feel counterproductive: uploading your nude photos or videos directly to Messenger. According to the Australia Broadcasting Corporation, Facebook has partnered with the office of the Australian government’s e-Safety Commissioner, which works primarily to prevent the online abuse of minors, to develop the new system for combating the nonconsensual sharing of explicit media.

By uploading the images or videos you fear may be shared in the future in an attempt to shame or harass you online, Facebook can digitally “hash” the media, effectively giving it a digital footprint. This allows the social network to track the media using the same…